Anthony Watson

Age

37

Title

Chief Information Officer

Company

Nike

As chief information officer of Europe, Middle East, and global operations of Barclays, Watson helped the bank manage its tech department more like a startup than a stodgy bank. His team launched numerous mobile banking apps, got bank accounts open faster, and pioneered new forms of mobile payment. In April he moved west—way west—to Nike, where he’s already spearheaded a big deal with Juniper Networks. A rare openly gay executive in the C-suite of a Fortune 500 company, the London-born Watson has been a champion of diversity throughout his career, and in 2013 became the first non-U.S. citizen to join the board of LGBT advocacy group GLAAD.